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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951607">Love in the Hinterlands</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prawnperson/pseuds/Prawnperson'>Prawnperson</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Mirrors, Near Death Experiences, Shipping if you squint very very very hard, The book mentions abusive relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:48:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>937</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951607</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prawnperson/pseuds/Prawnperson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ainsley reads a book.</p><p>Set during part two of The Hostile Hospital.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love in the Hinterlands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The saying “In every library there is a single book that can answer the question that burns like a fire in the mind.” Is well know amongst the members of VFD. It is a truth many people acknowledge that reading can often provide someone with the answers they needed, yet it is a lesser known truth that reading can also provide people with answers they never knew they were looking for. </p><p>Ainsley is guarding an unconscious Violet Baudelaire in one of the finished rooms of the finished half of Heimlich Hospital in the middle of the Hinterlands, and they are feeling morally queasy. Feeling morally queasy is a phrase which here means “feeling as though they are doing something they shouldn’t be doing.”, and as I am sure you can imagine, it is not a pleasant feeling. </p><p>Fiddling with the hem of their apron is no longer helping them calm their nerves, and the thought of approaching Violet makes them feel even worse, since it would force them to make a decision between doing the noble thing and trying to wake her up or doing the wicked thing and leaving her to lie in wait of having her head sawed off. They’re desperate for something to take their mind off her impending doom, so they look about the room for something that may provide a good enough distraction.</p><p>Their eyes fall almost instantly on a rather hefty looking book sitting beside a water pitcher on the room’s side table. They know they’re supposed to be focusing on Violet, but they don’t think they can just stand here much longer, and there’s a better chance she could escape if they were distracted.</p><p>But they don’t want her to escape. They know that.</p><p>The heaviness of the book alarms then when they pick it up. It’s hardcover, which probably adds to its overall weight, but the book itself is massive, with the ridiculous title <i>Love in the Hinterlands</i> printed in tacky swirly writing beneath two floating busts of the men Ainsley assumes are the protagonists. It’s the sort of thing they’ve heard Count Olaf mercilessly belittle the likes of Jacques Snicket and Olivia Caliban for reading and quoting and basing their principles upon.</p><p>But at the same time, it doesn’t look very much like a book that Count Olaf would entirely disapprove of. It looks like trashy, fluffy, saccharine romance in a overly hefty package, a rom-com on paper. Not only that, but it doesn’t appear to be centred around the typical emotionally abusive heterosexual relationship where the man being in control is portrayed as the ideal, which appeals to Ainsley enough for them to tentatively open the book to the first page.</p><p>They aren’t quite sure how long they stay in that room, reading, under the guise of guiding Violet and ensuring she doesn’t wake up. While the book isn’t enough to totally numb the gnawing doubt taking over both their brain and their stomach, it does calm them down a little. </p><p>The main characters of the book seem to have no given occupation beyond one of them being something like a doctor and the other being something like a cowboy, which is ridiculous, but not nearly as ridiculous as some of their boss’s recent disguises, so Ainsley lets it slide. From the first chapter, the connection between the two protagonists is captivating, if the descriptions of how it makes them feel a little florid, and it compels Ainsley to read more, and more, and then more again.</p><p>Despite the cover showing all the signs of being typical sickly sweet potboiler, Ainsley is surprised by the emotional depth the book manages to convey within the first few chapters. It questions the very nature of love, and covers the plot line of the maybe-doctor recovering from an abusive relationship with an ex-fiancé. It recounts tragic experiences from his past in alarmingly tasteful flashback scenes that make Ainsley feel uncomfortable for a reason they don’t quite understand, with the ex-fiancé—Louis somebody?—gaslighting, groping and threatening Dr. MainCharacter. </p><p>They’ve just reached chapter eight, featuring a  gruesome account of verbal degradation on the part of the ex-fiancé, whenever Olaf bursts into the room. </p><p>“It’s time.”</p><p>He says, in a voice dripping with all the venom of a Virginian Wolfsnake, as <i>Love in the Hinterlands</i> would probably phrase it. Ainsley presses the book to their chest before sliding it into their apron’s pocket as inconspicuously as they can.</p><p>“Let’s lose our first patient.”</p><p>   ***</p><p>By the time Ainsley reaches Count Olaf’s car, they are in pain, terrified, and queasy from both smoke inhalation and morally deplorable actions. Even as they climb into the back of the cruiser—they don’t think it’s really a cruiser, but they’ve never been good with mechanical things and they’re fairly certain cruiser is the name of a type of car—they begin to wonder about how they did actually manage to escape with minimal injuries.</p><p>They try not to focus on the fact that they almost just died, all for obeying Count Olaf’s orders in the first place. They try to focus on good things, on interesting things, like how the rest of the troupe is safe, and how Fernald waited for them like how maybe-a-cowboy waited for maybe-a-doctor at that rodeo, and how the Baudelaires once again managed to escape their clutches.</p><p>And just like that, a question Ainsley did not know they even had is answered without them even realising it.  The car speeds away from the burning Heimlich Hospital, and Ainsley leans against the window, focusing on the weight of the book in their lap.</p>
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